Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa delivers dire warning over football's future

Marcelo Bielsa claims he has "serious doubts" about football's future because of the number of games teams must play.

Leeds face Crystal Palace at Elland Road on Tuesday in the first of seven matches in 28 days over the festive period.

Bielsa accepts the British tradition of playing games over Christmas, but is worried by football's growing commercialism here and in the rest of the world.

He feels football's authorities are too focused on trying to make money at the expense of their product.

"What is clear is the calendar is so overcharged, it doesn't bear in mind the development or preparation," said the Leeds head coach.

"That's why I have serious doubts over the future of professional football because it is constantly commercialised and the product is worse.

"It's based on selling more games, but it ignores whether teams are in better conditions to offer better results.

"I use the terms that the football industry uses, but it's difficult for me to think it in those terms.

"That's why I say it doesn't make sense to want to multiply the commercialisation of a product when the product is only getting worse."

Bielsa is also dismayed by FIFA's scheduling of next year's World Cup in Qatar part way through the Premier League season.

The tournament is being staged between November 21 and December 18 and the Premier League will pause from November 13 to Boxing Day.

Bielsa managed Argentina in the 2002 World Cup and Chile at the 2010 tournament and feels football's authorities are not treating the competition with the respect it deserves.

"The Premier League will offer half of its players to the World Cup," he said.

"The Premier League is interrupted 10 days before the start of the World Cup.

"The World Cup which is the most desirable thing in football, for the footballers and coaches of the national teams, they are offered the minimum possibility of preparing a team. The only thing produced by this is that what's on show every time is worse.

"The World Cup is a spectacle which is played every four years and is the homage football makes to the world, but to make that worse it doesn't make sense.

"By chance I came across something from when the players were at the World Cup in Mexico in '86 and they were complaining about the high temperatures when the games were played.

"The response to that was the players should focus on what they're paid to do.

"It's true, each of us should have an opinion on what we do. A lot of times we talk a lot more than we should, in this case myself, but it brings me great sadness to see how football is deteriorating."